What You Should Know Before You Make Your Dog Vomit

If you discover the remains of a household plant on your dog's mouth or discover him licking the remains of spilled household bleach, your first reaction may be that you should make your dog vomit.

That, however, isn't always the best practice. While that may be appropriate for the houseplant, it's a bad idea for bleach, and other caustic products such as drain opener. Those will burn your dog's esophagus and mouth while the poisonous substance is coming up and make his condition even worse.

Best way to know what to do

The safest response if you believe your dog has ingested some poison is to call

1) your veterinarian, or
2) the Animal Poison Control Center at 1-888-426-4435 (available 24/7 but will charge you a $55 fee).
Tell either one what you think your dog ingested and they'll tell you how to treat him.

When not make a dog vomit

Never induce vomiting if your dog is any of the below:

having convulsions
in shock
ingesting a caustic substance
unconscious
already vomiting
has ingested the poison some time ago. After two hours,
the substance is likely in his small intestine and he won't be able to vomit it back up.
How to make your dog vomit

If vomiting is the appropriate treatment, the easiest method is to use 3% hydrogen peroxide.

This is NOT the type used for your hair dye but the type used to clean wounds. Despite warnings on the bottle, this is safe to use with a dog for this purpose because it induces vomiting and doesn't stay in his body - that's why it has the poison warning.

The rule of thumb is to use one teaspoon for every 10-pounds of dog weight.

Your dog is unlikely to willingly take it so you may have to use a syringe or turkey baster to get it in his throat. Make sure the bottle indicates that the hydrogen peroxide has not expired. An expired dosage won't do your dog any good.

Vomiting should occur within 15 to 20 minutes. If no vomiting occurs, you can safely repeat the three percent hydrogen peroxide once. If that doesn't work, take your dog to the veterinarian right away for stronger medication.

What not to use

Despite the old wives tales, I've never seen Syrup of Ipecac, salt or mustard seed water work well on dogs.

One final note

Small dogs can easily become dehydrated after vomiting and decline into a state of shock. Once you think your dog can keep liquids down, give him a few sips of water or let him lick some ice cubes or crushed ice. Don't force it and don't give him too much water or he's likely to start vomiting again.

If you want to replace nutrients more quickly, Pedialyte, a water and electrolyte product sold for infants, may be given to dogs as well. Do NOT give him any of the sports drinks made for human athletes.

If he isn't able to keep water down or won't drink, get him to a veterinarian immediately. He may need to to have an IV to regain the proper amount of fluids.

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